Gingrich Criticizes New Ethics Inquiry

Published: October 15, 1995

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14—
House Speaker Newt Gingrich said today that a new ethics inquiry into reports of bulk sales of his political book amounted to nothing more than a smear campaign.

"All that's going on here is liberals who are trying to smear me because they have no solutions, no arguments and no case," Mr. Gingrich told reporters in Marietta, Ga.

"All they have left is to smear the Speaker because they can't solve Medicare, they can't solve welfare and they can't balance the budget," he added.

A spokesman for Mr. Gingrich's publisher, HarperCollins, confirmed on Friday that the company had heard from House ethics committee staffers who were looking for possible conflicts of interest because of bulk orders of the Speaker's book, "To Renew America."

The new investigative initiative was prompted by a Democrat on the ethics committee. But House officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the inquiries were being made on behalf of the panel, not just Democrats.

Bulk purchases by groups or individuals with an interest in legislation could violate House rules. There is no allegation of wrongdoing at this point.

Former Speaker Jim Wright, a Texas Democrat, resigned in disgrace in 1989 partly because of a book deal involving bulk sales; Mr. Gingrich had pushed hard for that ethics investigation. Mr. Wright was accused of using bulk book sales to evade limits on speech honoraria.